Second half goals from Jack Harrison and David Villa were enough for New York City FC to take down the Philadelphia Union 2-0 at Talen Energy Stadium Friday night. Harrison’s clinical finish was the winner but Villa added a spectacular effort just shy of full time with 52.5 yard half-volley that lobbed over just Andre Blake’s outstretched arms.

Jim Curtin made two changes to the team that lost to Portland last Saturday. Roland Alberg made his first start of the season in place of Derrick Jones, a move that pushed Alejandro Bedoya into his preferred deeper midfield role. Jack Elliott was given his first MLS start, coming in for Oguchi Onyewu. Adam Najem was named to the gameday roster for the first time this season.

Philadelphia opened with a handful of half-chances, culminating when Chris Pontius couldn’t find a teammate in the box with a cross from the left in the 9th minute and Alberg pulled a shot just wide in the 10th.

Andre Blake was called into action in the 16th minute as Jack Harrison let fly from distance and forced the goalkeeper to push away the shot diving to his right.

The Union’s best chance of the half fell to Alejandro Bedoya in the 28th minute. Alberg played a terrific crossfield ball to Ilsinho on the right corner of the NYCFC area, and the Brazilian nodded it into the path of the onrushing Bedoya. The midfielder took on the shot first time, hitting a half volley that Sean Johnson did well to palm away at the near post.

NYCFC would have a good shout for a penalty as Richie Marquez slid in and blocked David Villa’s shot with his hand in the 29th minute. There was no call on the play, and Blake had to come to the rescue, saving from Maximilano Moralez immediately after.

The visitors took the lead in the 52nd minute. Ronald Matarrita was given time and space on the left corner of the Union area and picked out a fine angled pass to hit Jack Harrison’s run behind the Union backline. The striker took one touch to settle before sending a shot past Blake into the Union goal.

Fabian Herbers was introduced in the 60th minute for Chris Pontius as the Union looked to get back into the match.

But NYC would have two good chances to double their lead. First, Ethan White — playing at right back — forced Blake into a good save shooting from the right in the 66th minute. Then, Elliott was forced to clear a goalbound shot from Rodney Wallace in the 69th minute after Blake had made the initial save.

Adam Najem was given his MLS debut, replacing Roland Alberg in the 71st minute and Jay Simpson came in for Ilsinho in the 77th as Jim Curtin searched for offense.

David Villa added gloss to the scoreline with a stunning goal on the 90th minute. Latching onto a bouncing ball just past the halfline, the Spanish striker hit a beautifully struck half volley that spun over the outstretched Blake.

Philadelphia finished the second half with just two shots, and none on goal. Boos rang out for the second week in a row at full time at Talen Energy Field. The Union has now lost four straight, two at home, and has not won in 14 games. They are next in action next Saturday (1 p.m.) when they host Montreal.

Strong start, fall apart: Once again, Philly looked like they had a strong plan and good understanding early on, only to crumble after giving up a goal. The Union’s high press forced numerous turnovers in NYC’s half, but they were rarely able to convert those opportunities into threats. Once NYC went ahead, the home side had no answer.

The attack that wasn’t: The Union generated two shots on frame — both from far outside the box — all day. And as Matt Doyle pointed out on Twitter… the team only had the ball in the box twice the entire second half.

91 Comments

Curtin is in over his head. He brought the correct approach the 1st 15 minutes of pressing high and then never adjusted from there. He is a glorified high school coach. The number 1 sign of a well coached futbol team is movement off the ball. The movement off the ball was slow and reactive and not deliberate and proactive. He is in over his head.

Curtin is in over his head. He brought the correct approach the 1st 15 minutes of pressing high and then never adjusted from there. He is a glorified high school coach. The number 1 sign of a well coached futbol team is movement off the ball. The movement off the ball was slow and reactive and not deliberate and proactive. He is in over his head. I don’t understand why this ownership group or league doesn’t try to pluck a youth coach from Barca, or Atletico Madrid, or Sao Paulo,…..or some respectable club to run this technical group and manage the squad. There is zero identity to this team. Try and build a partnership with a great overseas club that can drive change in MLS and the Union be a scouting system for the parent club in the US.

Glad those near believe in you, Jim, ’cause tens of thousands of supporters no longer can. You cannot give up 2 and only put 2 on frame without losing. Boycott MTL. “The unwatchable unwatched.” A sea of blue seats and “UNION” for all to see. Get Jay’s attention.

We’ve reached that point where Change needs to happen. If this team is as good as Jim beloved, then we need to find a manager to help them reach that potential.
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This was a disjointed effort that was simply not good enough. Again.
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I’ve been a defender of Jim. Sorry, but the manager is the first to go.
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But he’s not the last…

Keegan Rosenberrys play is WITHOUT question the most alarming thing in my opinion – he has been really really poor.
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Who’s putting heat on him? Keegan needs to be sat in favor of Ray Gaddis to send him a message.

Possibly. That has not been Curtin’s pattern necessarily. In some cases yes, in others no.
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Depends on his read of Rosenberry’s psyche. Will a Bowa like kick in the pants work? Or will it destroy him?
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Use it only if you believe there is more to get. If the ceiling has been reached, there is no point.

That second half was legitimately one of the worst displays of soccer I’ve seen from any top flight team in any league. Holy shit that was bad. Poor Andre Blake has a helluva game and then gets beaten by just a magnificent, perfect effort. Depressing.

Bad game, bad team as of now. We need to win eventually though, right? Anyways, pontius was the only one making dangerous runs and dangerous crosses, no one should criticize him. Defense was largely bad other than Marquez. Very disappointed with Medunjanin, really thought he didn’t contribute today. Sapong was decent, but he just doesn’t score goals consistently. Ilsinho was active, but like always he’s all flash and no production. That’s why I prefer pontius. Bedoya was alright. Honestly this team just needs one creative player, that’s it. Unfortunately we don’t have one. What can ya do?

What were you expecting? did you think he was going to pull a Bud Dwyer?
I mean Curtin is gonna say the same things no matter what. Listening to the press conference in hopes of him saying anything different is pure masochism.

Oh boy… I… I just… I don’t know… wow… smh… everything is just so bad… WSSM
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I am in favor of a boycott Saturday. I’ll tailgate and drink and just not go in. Fine with me. This is just fucking unacceptable on every level.

I said all along it was a mistake to appoint Curtin. We need a coach who gets the best of his players, is a lot more strategic and makes sure his team does not fall apart after 1 goal. Too bad we lost 3 years with Curtin.

The epic fails after being scored on are piling up. First 45 minutes: promising. Opening minutes of second half: come out flat, get hit and fail to get back up.
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Coming out flat – that’s on the coach. Falling apart after being scored on – that’s on the coach. Not reining Fabinho in to prevent his worthless crosses to the opposing GK – that’s on the coach. Subs brought in without a transformative strategy – that’s on the coach.
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JC, the only thing keeping you in this job right now is that you are the devil we know. And given the history of this club, we have reason to fear the devil we don’t know.
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At this point, it would be interesting to see Earnie pull a Dallas Green and take over for the rest of the season. At least that way, he’d get a first hand assessment of the players’ real capabilities.

Actually, I thought the first 45 minutes were unpromising. They were given chance after chance and didn’t even come close to converting. By halftime it was obvious how NYCFC managed to give up 7 goals in a game last year and equally as obvious that the Union as currently composed would be lucky to score a goal against Bethlehem Steel.

One thing Jim had right…. Alberg was unfit. Lots of mistakes. No pace….
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If this team made one mistake, it was playing too many chips on Bedoya. Simply not good enough.
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I have no faith this team is going to change managers.

But a drop is coming very similar to relegation. It’s called empty seats and loss of revenue. Loss of relevance in this crowded sports market. It will be just like dropping to D2 with D1 bills. Going down might be easier as it wouldn’t have the same effect on the bottom line.

Watched on ESPN. Twellman says in the first half that the Union need to spend 5-7 million on two players.
I guess that’s what’s infuriating is that Atlanta comes in with money and a plan and we’re preaching moneyball FCDallas patience (which paid off for them last year). But this regime is on the verge of an abyss and the coach has to be sacrificed now. There’s nothing going on. Two shots in the second half and not on frame? Is that playing with desperation?

I think if you want Burke to eventually take over, you go outside the organization and hire an international coach. Let Burke learn some from somebody with an outside perspective. The Union need new eyes.

Sorber and Burke are great ideas if you want to read the same comments next year when the team hasn’t improved. Actually, that’s probably the case for any coach with this team. Curtin wasn’t the one who didn’t take advantage of about a million NYCFC turnovers. Anyone thinking a coaching change will help is delusional. They need player changes and lots of them, starting with number 11.

Agreed, he’s in a great spot at ESPN. He’s their top soccer guy and can also step into other sports for their opinon shows. With ESPN cutting costs, they like having a versatile guy who can play a few different roles across their platforms.

With the talent disparity compared to most of the rest of MLS, you need a Diego Simone type of manager. Willing to press when the ball is in certain spots on the field and when it’s elsewhere, fall back into a compact shape and defend until there is an opportunity to counter. This team really needs to have a high work rate and be tactically disciplined in order to pick up points.
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You’re playing a low margin game so you can’t continue to give up 2-3 goals per game. Need to get some shutouts to get points and with this group, that will be difficult to do. If the Union are able to do this, we will be competitive in MLS again, but it’s not really something to aspire to, long term.
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I don’t think firing Curtin solves the Union’s problems, but I don’t think he’s the one to retrain this team to play differently going forward either.

Yes Curtin has to go. But the talent level on the field is simply not good enough. No touch, no pace, no finishers. Defenders not good enough. The team doesn’t have players who can produce goals and is not good enough defensively to win the occasional 1-0 scoreline. A managerial change will do a little, but not alot. Earnie’s roster simply isn’t anywhere near good enough. So a coaching change will make things slightly better, but not a whole lot.

I will say Curtin surprised me by starting Alberg and Elliot, and I believe it was the right thing to do. But this team is just struggling. No heart. No direction. No belief.
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T.T. said of his conversation with Stewart, when asked if Jim felt worried about losing his job, Stewart said why would he?
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Change needs to happen.

I have been a Union fan since Home Game Number One. I have seen the Horror of Hackworthlessness, the Misery of M’Bolhi, and even the Madness or King Nowak. But I don’t ever recall being as despondent about this team as I feel right now.

So I know a lot of ppl will disagree with me when I say this but I’d like to give a huge FU to Noguiera and Barnetta if in fact they left bc they didn’t want to play here anymore. I know it’s a business and this happens all the time with players, but those two leaving has left a huge hole to fill now and could set this team back for years to come. It isn’t easy to acquire players like that who have fit this team perfectly. We’ll see.

OK, so let’s all put our tin foil hats on and generate some conspiratorial conspiracies:
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Barnetta leaving was understandable – play for your home club in the twilight of your career. Nogs leaving was perhaps less understandable, a parallel move but not back to a hero’s welcome.
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So what did we do to deserve both of them leaving before we wanted them to go? In business, if you have a productive employee that you don’t want to lose, you ask her “what will it take to keep you here?”
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Did the front office ever make counter offers? Did they make these fan-beloved players feel less than welcome? Or did The Calm and Nogs see the writing on the wall and deduce that this ship was about to sink anyway?
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Discuss

the organization handled the two departures very differently.
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One was clearly very personal, and very private. We were asked to respect the privacy. And we all did. The state of our knowledge is that we do not know why Vince Nogueira left, just as we do not know why the center back from Downingtown left just a year after he came home to finish out with his hometown club.
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The other case a deadline was set from the get go. The deadline was reached, the club tried, the original deal remained. Promises made were kept.
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If someone really, really does not want to be somewhere, forcing them is counterproductive. Such an individual can become highly destructive unintentionally. Such an individual can become even more destructive intentionally.
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Interesting to me Earnie Stewart’s track record with coaches abroad, as I’ve heard, was his willingness to move on if things went sideways. Of course in other leagues the threat of relegation is always at hand for a relatively perennial mid table club not playing too great so a certain level of impatience is pretty standard.
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There is no threat of a similar fate here. Earnie went on ESPN and gave the manager a vote of confidence with Taylor Twellman. At this point he’s hitching the success of this rebuild on a young coach learning on the job. I want to be supportive. I want to believe this is going to turn… but am seeing some familiar patterns of behavior and response from the players that is alarming and indicative of a lack of belief and I dare say…. mental softness.
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Keegan needs a message sent to him and needs to sit in favor of Ray Gaddis for a game or two. The leaders on this team need to get behind closed doors and have a serious discussion that what’s happening on the field is more than what the fans are complaining about with the manager. They need to hold one another accountable to cleaner play and better descion making.
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The captain needs to lead this with Chris Pontius. They need to come together as men and accept responsibility. So much of what we are seeing as inadequacy is the players’ faults.
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The manager has been given a vote of confidence from The Sporting Director and Im inclined in light of this, to start arguing on the managers behalf to hopefully begin sending much needed positive energy his way. Unsure what else to do.
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Just Play Well.

This area is probably where they miss Barnetta the most. A leader who will call players out for mistakes and hold them accountable as well as be willing to get in an opponent’s face after a hard foul. Gooch seems to be willing to be the guy who will do the latter, but he couldn’t do the former since he’s not playing at a high level.
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The Union seem to have a friendly locker room with a bunch of nice guys, but you need more than that from either some of the players or the coaching staff.

The first half of this game was the best soccer I have seen the Union play this season. Passes to people’s feet. Give and goes. clean triangular passing. Players making runs with the ball and off the ball. THE SECOND HALF was back to the old union. Kick and run, Kick and chase. Alberg should have been the first sub. JIM CURTAIN stop subbing SO LATE! We should have seen two subs right after NYC’s goal. That sends the message that the guys on the field had their chance, time for someone who is hungry!
I can support a loss from a team that works hard and play the game well but don’t put a teams on the field that just wants to kick it up field and hope!

Was at the game and partially agree. They definitely looked up to the task In the first half…. but they continue to be utterly baffled when it comes to putting an attack together in the final third. They look almost like they’re trying to run a training ground play that resembles a three stooges routine in actual practice. I also noticed on several occasions that when Ilsinho was on the attack, taking on no less than three defenders, that the rest of the team would stand and watch him. No movement to help, to provide him with an option. They were pylons. This team has players with quality, but they don’t have a plan. They’re not readin each other well at all. If Curtin really is safe, I’m not sure how he can flip a switch that turns on team chemistry. It’s gone.
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Other positives: Elliot was good on his debut and Najem looked sharp.

I feel like I am sitting in the Stadium each game watching a High School with 50 kids that is forced to find 18 to put on a soccer field VS a High School with 1200 kids.
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The Union are the HS with 50 kids.
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Perhaps I shouldn’t care so much, and if I hadn’t dropped over 1K on season tickets, I probably wouldn’t care.
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But I did, and I do, and it is depressing.

Agreed.
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I remember playing high school golf with a school size of 800 or so and our #5-7 players scores we would have to count every match. It was brutal when their score to par was a combined +40.
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hard to beat a HS school of a few thousand who’s #5-7 shot par.

Curtin is Awful but Saint Ernie put most of these players on the field and made the decision that Bedoya Could be Barnetta. Bedoya is a good soldier and did his best but he knows he is not Barnetta. The Unions biggest weak link is someone leading the attack. This team needed to unload Edu Alberg and Ilsinhio.. They could have used the money to get the # 10 they needed. I know this is going to sound awful to some but Ernie should have sold Andre Blake while his stock was higher. . They will be forced to unload him sooner or later or let him walk. He deserves to be on a better team. Like Twellman said all the top MLS teams have a quality # 10 and at least 1 Very good forward . The Union. have neither.. Alberg And ishinio will both be gone next year. Edu will retire. Blake will be sold. Curtin fired and Sugarman will be scratching his head wondering if Ernie was the answer.

I think one aspect that we haven’t discussed is formation and tactics. A huge problem I see is that Curtin stated that he’s sticking with his 4-2-3-1 formation. It seems to me that teams have figured out how to counter it and we look predictable now when going forward. When the LB and RB push forward on the flanks they are pressured right away and pushed to the outside only to have the option to play backwards. This also happens bc our wings are being pressured right away as well. Teams have figured how to close down the Union when trying to spread the field out wide. All they have to do with Sapong is mark him tight and not let him turn. Our midfield has no creativity and none on the team is moving On and off the ball so this is the result …..

This team is 3 players and a coaching change from mediocrity. They need a striker, a creator and a destroyer and a man in a suit who can put that together.
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The cupboard is bare, none of these are extant in the club at any level.

I wouldn’t sell on Najem just yet. You have to admit that he was subbed on in less than ideal circumstances. By the time he was subbed on they were in panic mode (hoof and chase) and everyone lost composure.

The first transfer window ends May 8th. The second transfer window starts in early July. If Ernie has not already done his background work and is just keeping quiet then don’t expect many moves other than axing Curtin this week. He will wait until after Easter to make the announcement. Hope he then releases Alberg. He needs to send a message to all start the season in playing form unless you are recovering from an injury. Ernie better start earning his keep and working some moneyball magic or the Union season is over now,

Alejandro Bedoya is not the savior of the Union, nor is he the problem. The team is offensively inept: when was the last goal from a real shot in the run of play (not a tap in or rebound)?
Curtin has shown no capacity to design consistent executable scoring strategies, placing too much responsibility for results on his defenders.
Where is Big Ern getting him that help?
The fan unrest is totally fair – just ask Jim what your record says about you.

As a fan since 2011, I think it’s time for the fans to take control of the team. Last night would have been the best time for this, but for the next home game this should be the plan. We fill the stadium before the start of the game, get everyone excited and in their seats before the game. Then when the first whistle is blown, we all get up and leave the stadium. We all go back to a designated meeting spot where two representatives who will speak for all of us will give a press conference while the game is going on. Our message will be clear: until Sugarman sells the team, we are not coming back. Even if a new coach is coming, we don’t come back. Even if they sign a $5 million player, we don’t come back. It has taken the fans years to realize that the cancer is ownership. If the team improves to beyond our wildest comprehension, then we see the turn has happened. However, that is not likely. Mr. Sugarman, your ineptness and miserly ways have ruined this team and probably Philadelphia soccer for a generation. When the announcement comes that Sugarman is selling the team, don’t go back. When they announce a new owner, don’t go back. Only when the team is under ownership, is when we start buying tickets. Mr. Sugarman, you have made us realize that a better option than the current team is no team at all.

The difference between ATL and PHL is that one has an owner who wanted a franchise for his newly built stadium, and the will to spend money to win. Where as the Union was founded by fans who’s vision stopped at just having a team. Sometimes honesty hurts, but we all wanted a team, too bad we then got a “lotto pick” of what rich New Yorkers wants a franchise of any pro-sport. Think of it this way, Sugarman probably wanted a NFL team or a hockey team, but never had enough coin because he doesn’t have “Fuck You” money…..so he settles for the MLS as it starts to rise more in popularity. My point is we got what we paid for as a fan base…we got the team but not any of matters with it like an ownership who truly wanted a soccer team, that have a philosophy/manager in mind, and willing to build a stadium and infrastructure that isn’t in a beleaguered area along a river. To further kick this dead horse. A true owner would have spent the cash to build the stadium at the naval yard, instilled a veteran coach who knows how to mold talent and build an academy, and given every monetary resource to make sure you are keeping pace season after season with your rivals. I am so sick of this ownership group and how they just collect off this fanbase and put out squalid tripe.

Philadelphia was a new construction twin in an up and coming neighborhood. Atlanta is a single family unit across the street that’s one story taller with a roof deck that drives everyone’s property values (and taxes) higher. It’s so funny and sad that the fan base is right back to the same emotional point it was before Sak was sacked. All the goodwill that came with Stewart’s appointment and last year’s good start is gone. And justifiably so, I think.

So have glass of scotch and waxing philosophic a day removed from the house fire that was last night.
Wondering (for those of u who know more about soccer than me) is there actually a tactical advantage to the 4-2-3-1 or do average teams play it just because the best teams play it?
I’m thinking like u have drogba, Ivanovich, giroud, costa or some other big strong stud striker, so you decide to build a structure around them 4-2-3-1.
That doesnt mean your formation is superior, it means your striker is. Point being why are we playing this formation built for a stud without one?

For me the 4-2-3-1 has two major advantages. 1) Clearly defined roles. 2) 3-man central midfield (numerical advantage over the 4-4-2 and equal to the 4-3-3, 3-5-2, etc.)
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My problem is not the formation as stated but how it shapes up in defense – it looks more like a 4-4-2 with the “#10” pushing as high as the striker. That neutralizes the second major advantage above and leaves me scratching my head every time. You cannot properly execute a high press like that and it certainly does not help Medunjanin defensively because he has more ground to cover.

There is a lack of technical quality and a severe lack of pace with this damn team. My god this team is so nonathletic which would be ok if there was technical quality. MLS is still in the stage where speed of play and the pace of the players are king – we are playing as pawns.